Sculpture in the Park

Bob finally allowed himself a bit of R&R from the ongoing house renovations.  We had a few relaxing and enjoyable hours at the Sculpture in the Park exhibit at Urunga.  What a wonderful showcase of fantastic local talent!  Around 60 pieces were exhibited on the beautiful banks of the mouth of the Kalang River.  Jazz bands played while people picnicked under the shade of giant fig trees.  

The theme for the exhibit was to use recycled materials and the artists were superb in creating beauty from junk.  The pieces ranged from whimsical Mrs Roots, fine glass and wood, molded steel, political statements to elegant simplicity.  One of the things that make this tree/sea changer area so special is the absolute surfeit of remarkably talented people who live here.

Colin's steel gate from recycled fork lift parts

Mrs Roots

First prize

Lee's elegant wood carving

Recycle metal scrap

Metal Lady with attitude

John's boat wind vanes

Wendy's wood and glass piece

Hearts and clubs for the environment

Dragonfly

Renovations and Excavations

With enough of our ‘stuff’ unpacked to live comfortably but simply, we started the renovations in earnest.  First the laundry was stripped of its very old, rough and ready cupboard and rusted sink and new put in ala Bunnings.  This DIY is our favourite store and I am quite sure it’s stock value has gone up this month with our patronage alone – in inverse proportion to our bank account.

The old laundry cupboard and bench

The new laundry

Meanwhile I started scrubbing years of grime from the bathroom and refurbishing the wood panelling. Then I started painting the bedrooms and scrubbing and polishing the wood.  I have come to the conclusion that every square centimetre of the house will have to be scrubbed, painted and polished.  I go to bed every night with my hands throbbing from the scrubbing and painting.

Bob goes to bed every night with his back aching. He has been extending the verandah roof so the boards are not exposed to the weather and then will replace the boards that have rotted from exposure to the 1600 - 2000 mm of annual rainfall we get here.  He has also been shaving and rehanging doors, cementing the broken top to the septic tank, repairing the termite damage and finishing off all the missing bits of skirting board and trim that never got done when the house was built, to name just a few of the chores.

The biggest project so far involved an excavator and bobcat spending three days clearing the excess bush around the house.  What an amazing job they did!  Massive trees were lifted out of the ground like matchsticks. The excavator driver handed his monstrous machine like a surgeon with a scalpel and suture. We got rid of 30 huge tree stumps, scores of trees too close to the house, pushed back the lantana, tidied up the dam and cleared a level spot for a storage shed.  A total transformation to the place.  No more Ankgor Wat verdant cave.  I can breathe and we have a view.

The Masters at work

The double Tallowood near the house

Some of the tree stumps dug up

Picking up trees like matchsticks

Making quick work of removing the trees

There goes the big palm

View of the house from the paddock before the clearing

After the clearing

 After the clearing we bought about 20 kg of millet grass seed to sow around.  By the time we got home from the Norco it looked like we would get some rain so we quickly sowed the seed thinking the rain would give it a great start.  As luck would have it this was not a gentle English rain but one of the fiercest tropical downpours we have ever seen.  All we could do was look at the seed and top soil running down the hill in rivulets.  Fortunately after inspecting the damage the next day we saw that quite a bit of the seed was still on the ground and a few days later a patchy green was forming.

Torrential rain just after sowing the grass seed

Patchy grass coming up a week later

Greening up

We have a list of about 30 major repairs/renovations to do between now and mid-March and so far have managed to tick off about a third of them. It is going to be a very busy few months.

A baby staghorn fern on the trunk of a bottlebrush along the driveway

Back in Bello

After seven months of travel we are back in Oz and moved into our house in the tree change heaven of Bellingen.  The first 4 days were spent going back and forth to our storage locker to unpack all our 'stuff'.  We couldn't help but wonder why after living quite happily for 7 months out of a small duffel bag we needed so much 'stuff'.  We culled drastically when we moved from Canberra but there is still too much and we are culling again.  Why did I think I still needed to keep a 30 year old jacket???

All our 'stuff' in the storage locker

Bellingen greeted us with a torrential tropical downpour of much needed rain.  It is very dry and poor Boggy Creek consists of just some sad isolated puddles.

Rain pouring off the verandah roof

Boggy Creek reduced to puddles

Boggy Creek by the bridge

As we suspected after nearly 20 years of tenants, termites and the sub-tropical rainforest environment, the house needs a lot of work.  We are going to have a very busy 5 months of fixing and renovating.  Despite having a great tenant for the last 11 years who loved the place and worked very hard keeping the grounds in check, the place is a bit like Angor Wat where the jungle has taken over.  Trees that were little saplings when we left have turned into 35 metre monsters. We are living in a verdant cave that not only is claustrophobic but a huge fire hazard.  We have arranged for Tony from Dorrigo to come with with his bulldozer next week to clear around the house.

That Tibochina 'shrub' was suppose to grow to only 2 m

This palm was below the bottom of the verandah when I first met Bob

View from the paddock

The driveway

There is a house behind those trees

The wildlife here is even more lovely than I remember.  We have a friendly Brush Turkey that visits the back yard everyday. An Azure Kingfisher flits around the dam and the frogs chorus us all night long.  We have seen some beautiful Regent Bower birds as well as the usual Kookaburras, Whip Birds, Honeyeaters and Lorakeets.  Then a wallaby and her joey comes to graze close to the house every evening and they are totally unfazed by our presence.  I do not remember the animals being so tame 20 years ago.

Brush Turkey.  We think their eggs are under that mound

 Of course being  amongst all the wild life also means sometimes sharing bits of the house with them as well. 

The 3+ metre python skin found in the attic

The area really is quite magical and I feel quite privileged to be able to spend some time here.

Looking up along Boggy Creek Road

On the Hard

The big day came for Songster to be put on the hard for the Northern winter.  We had hoped to get her out into the bay for a bit of a motor before she was lifted out but alas, the motor wouldn’t start again.  We realised there must be teeth missing on the fly wheel and the starter motor is just unable to engage the engine.  There is nothing we could do about it until next year when a new motor will most probably be needed.  It was very frustrating not to be able to take Songster out at all this year but with boat ownership, we have to go with the flow.    

  

We got up early to do the last minute preparations for the haul out and waited for the marinaros to come to tow us the 50 metres to the haul out crane.  Finally at around 4 pm they came, attached a line from the boat to their dinghy and in about half a minute we were tying up to the crane dock in a queue behind two fast Russian racers and before a lovely Najad that had circumnavigated and just been shipped in from Thailand.  The marinaros are fantastic here, very efficient and professional.

 

In the queue at the haul out dock

Then as the early darkness was descending in the short autumn days, Songster was lifted out of the water, put in a cradle and given a wash.  

Songster in the straps being  lifted out of the water

Getting a wash

Early the next morning we were nestled amongst the forest of boats on the hard where Songster will stay until our return in April.

 

Being moved into position

Close neighbours

 

View from the cockpit

Climbing this wobbly steel ladder was a challenge, especially when the reverse polarity of the marina made it live.  180 volts gave me a tingle!